The Impractical Choice: Mercedes-Benz 560 SEC AMG

Following on from last week’s piece
on the inimitable Jaguar XJS, this week’s impractical choice
takes things in a slightly different - albeit familiar - direction.
For the man who is considering purchasing a new super saloon, i.e.
Audi RS6 or BMW M5, The Rake bids him not to. Forget the ruthless
power and assured efficiency of these and turn back the clock to a
more exciting time, instead focusing your attention on a golden but
oft-overlooked age for luxury automobiles; the 1980s.

Some of the most lauded of all executive vehicles belong to the
Mercedes-Benz S-Class family, which impressively can be dated back
to 1972. Long a favourite of politicians, statesmen and, in the
‘90s, rap stars, the S-Class is synonymous with understated design
and quality of build. There is one particular model The Rake would
like to focus on though for the sake of this article, not that
we’re particular or anything. Said vehicle is the Mercedes-Benz 560
SEC AMG ‘Wide Body’, and it’s the sort of car I would happily swap
my hypothetical offspring for. One of the reasons this car is so
impractical is because you will have to spend eight hours of your
working day (every day) trying to find one. You will get fired.
It’s unknown exactly how many were made but they’re about as rare
as a nymphomaniacal nun.

"It’s the sort of car I would happily swap my hypothetical
offspring for"

The standard 560 SEC was the coupé version of the S-Class,
coming with a 5.5-litre V8 out of the factory. No AMG models
actually left the Mercedes factory though. During this time AMG was
not actually owned by Mercedes, so curious customers would have to
take their factory-fresh SECs to AMG themselves, speccing their car
out as far as their wallets would take them. There were many
different options. Customers could request as little as suspension
upgrades and minor bodywork tweaks all the way to the full-fat
‘wide body’ kit and a 6.0-litre engine bore producing 385bhp.

Back in 1990 the cost of a fully-specced 560 SEC AMG was around
$200,000, and today they are generally considered to be the most
heroic of the Mercedes/AMG cars before the merger of the two
companies. The first ‘official’ model, the AMG C36 was not
introduced until 1993, but it’s cars like the 560 SEC AMG that set
the precedent of what one expects from an AMG product today, namely
transforming fairly ordinary looking automobiles into denizens of
speed, grandeur and head-turning magnificence.